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Omdurman - Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, especially persons with disabilities many as a result of poverty or neglect.

Attacks on education have become visible in our world. The shooting of Malala Yousafzai, who was shot for daring to go to school, shocked us. We cheered when she won her fight for life. And now we are in new despair over the kidnapping of girls in Nigeria by terrorists who want them to stop them going to school.

THE promulgation of “The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Ordinance 2014” and its consequent introduction in the Punjab Assembly and referring to the Standing Committee on Education has earned widespread accolades but all stakeholders are in unison in saying that the law must be debated at length before enactment.

Education has been recognised as the most important tool man has at his disposal to develop his environment and improve himself. According to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations, education is one of the fundamental human rights. Every child, regardless of gender, has a right to.

Education is both a human right in itself and also an important means in realising other human rights. However, children living with disabilities are often denied their right to a quality education due to stigma and discrimination at multiple levels. In general, children with disabilities are less likely to start school and have lower rates of staying and being promoted in educational facilities.

Every child has the right to education, regardless of social background. Reality differs from how things should be though. The reality for many Bangladeshi children does not involve going to school; the ones living on streets, for example. To bridge the gap between street children and classrooms, individuals and foundations are taking initiatives to provide them with free or affordable, quality education.

Urgent action is needed to counteract a global "learning crisis" as millions of children leave primary unable to read or count, says a new report. Although the numbers of children who are out of school have fallen by almost half since 1999, the rate of improvement has slowed. There are 57 million children still out of school, meaning the goal of universal primary education by 2015 will be missed, according to the Education for All (EFA) report, published by Unesco.

Participants of a policy discussion forum stated that the greatest strength of South Asia is its human resource — a young population — and innovative initiatives through partnerships can help utilise this workforce in overcoming deprivation and discrimination for substantive equity for all people. They expressed these views at a policy discussion on ‘Right to Education in South Asia’ which was organised here by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA). The session was moderated by Ms. Balea Raza Jamil, Director Programmes ITA.

Asha Khemka, a Nottinghamshire-based educationist who left school in India at the age of 13, taught herself English by watching children’s television after moving to England with her husband and went on to lead one of the most successful colleges, has been made a Dame — the female equivalent of knighthood. One of the highest civilian awards in Britain, Khemka has been honoured with the title of ‘Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire’ in the New Year’s Honours List for 2014. She was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 2009.